James Buckalew
James Kenneth Buckalew, 88, of Lincoln, died May 24 following a long illness.
He was born on October 24, 1933 in Peru, Ind., the oldest of three children. He attended public schools in Peru and distinguished himself in high school as a championship debater Jim joined the U.S. Army in 1954 and after his discharge from active duty was an Army reservist until 1962. Jim returned to school and graduated with a B.S. in 1958 from Indiana State University. From 1958-1960 he pursued graduate studies and worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Hawaii. He received his M.A. in 1961 from Indiana State, where he wrote his thesis on his experiences with the potential of educational television in Hawaii. He received his Ph.D. in 1961 from the University of Iowa, where his dissertation research focused on the role of television news anchors as gatekeepers.
During most of his graduate study and for decades afterwards, Jim worked as a practicing journalist and broadcaster, from his first radio assignments as a reporter for WBOW radio in Terre Haute, Indiana, KGU Radio in Honolulu, and WSUI radio in Iowa City, to his last at WCBQ radio in San Diego. He also had many commissioned assignments for newspapers covering elections, reviewing plays, and reporting on sporting events. He was popular as a public address announcer, a role that he filled at San Diego State University basketball games, and he co-hosted a television series devoted to thoroughbred racing on the cable network Prime Ticket.
Jim joined the University of Iowa in 1963 as an instructor in journalism and head of radio/TV news. In 1967 he joined the faculty of San Diego State University, where he retired as a full professor of journalism in 1999. But his love of the classroom led him to continue to teach at small colleges in the
Los Angeles area until he finally retired at the age of 80. During his San Diego State career, he published numerous scholarly articles as well a book with colleague Tim Wulfemeyer, Mass Media in the New Millennium.
Jim’s hobby for most of his adult life was thoroughbred racing. He was fortunate to live near enough two famous race courses, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Santa Anita Park, to become deeply involved in the sport as a member of a small group of investors who owned several successful horses, including Reason to Study and Study to Pass. He was also very adept at forecasting the results of races and won the Pick Six on more than one occasion; consequently, he was frequently consulted by newcomers hoping to learn how to “invest” at the racetrack.
Jim will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind, honorable, and generous man, a devoted teacher, and a loving father and husband. He was preceded in death by his parents, Homer Buckalew and Marguerite Anderson Buckalew of Peru, Ind.; his brother Charles Buckalew of Terre Haute, Ind., and his daughter-in-law, Gina Grandolfo of Tustin, Calif.
Survivors include his wife, Margaret McLaughlin of Lincoln, and his sons Michael Buckalew of Tustin, Calif., Thomas Buckalew of San Diego, and Robert Buckalew of Redding, Calif. and their mother, Karen Dempsey of San Diego; and sons Brett Buckalew and Kevin Buckalew of Los Angeles and their mother, Sally Hixon of San Diego.
James is also survived by his stepson, Malcolm McLaughlin and his wife, Julie Lamirande McLaughlin of Lucas, Texas, and his stepdaughter, Julia Cody Walkup and her husband Ward Gale Walkup IV of Lincoln; grandsons Shane and Lucas Buckalew of Redding, Calif., and their mother, Darcy Kelley-Buckalew; grandson Nicholas Buckalew of Tustin, Calif.; step-grandson Jackson McLaughlin of Lucas, Texas, and step-granddaughters Lila McLaughlin of Lucas, Texas and Kathryn Walkup of Lincoln.
Jim is also survived by his sister Joyce Buckalew Whittenberger and her husband Steven, of Boerne, Texas, sister Risa Buckalew Utley and her husband Michael of Nashville, Tenn., and sister-in-law Nancy Buckalew of Terre Haute, Ind.
Services and burial with military honors for James will be held at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. An online celebration of his life will follow later. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor may be made to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 234 Outlet Pointe Boulevard, Suite A, Columbia, S.C. 29210-5667.
Arrangements are under the care of Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. Click here to see his online guestbook.